The Eye of the Storm
by xlittle-lost-soulx
Summary: The trio take one last vacation on a luxury cruise ship before their childhood comes to an end and they must fight for their lives. HGRW, HPGW.


**Disclaimer:**

**It isn't mine. Sorry to disappoint!**

_Author's Note:_

_The little button that says "go" at the bottom…is there for a reason. –Wink, Wink._

**The Eye of the Storm**

Chapter One

How About A Vacation?

Well, it certainly wasn't _my_ idea.

There we were, in the middle of the ocean, on that bloody ship, when we _should_ have been out looking for Horcruxes.

"One last fling before it begins, Hermione!"

"We can get our wits together and have one last moment to relax. It'll be great!"

Or so Harry said. I didn't agree at all; I wanted to start searching for Horcruxes, find them, use them to defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and end the terror that so many endured everyday. But _no_. Harry wanted to go on vacation! On a bloody cruise ship. In the middle of a war.

Insanity. That was the _only_ possible explanation.

And I would not do it. I absolutely refused. There was no way that I'd ever consider it.

"Come _on_, Hermione! It's the last time we'll get to kick back and relax before we have to find the Horcruxes. I want one last, happy memory to take with me on that trip, don't you?" Harry asked. I looked up from the book I was reading on protection spells and the like.

I rolled my eyes at him and frowned deeply.

"Harry…this is no time to let our guard down. Dumbledore…he's…he's gone. And he was prepared! What do you think will happen to you if we all go sailing around in the wide-open for everyone to see? Do you think he will simply say, 'Oh, look! He's having a good time. Maybe I'll leave him alone now and save the icky killing part for later!'?"

"No, I'm not saying that. I know it's risky. But Hermione…I can't stay in this house for the whole summer. I _can't_ do it; I _won't_ do it. So you can either go with me andRon, or we'll go without you." Harry was completely serious, and I knew it. He was going on this trip whether I decided to tag along or not. Hopelessness sucked me into a dark, black, bottomless pit as I realized there was no way out of this.

I couldn't let him go without me. If Harry and Ron were attacked and I wasn't there, I'd never be able to forgive myself.

"Okay. I'll go. But I'm not wearing a bathing suit." With that, I turned back to my book and didn't say another word. But I could've sworn that I saw Harry grin out of the corner of my eye.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

"So, how long is this 'cooze' gonna last again, mate?" Ron asked, his mouth full of toast and bacon.

"It's _cruise_, Ron. And it's for two weeks. Two weeks of sun, the ocean, and a thousand happy muggles who have no idea that there's a war going on," Harry answered.

"Two weeks of delicious food and beautiful, half-naked women. My dream vacation!" Ron said happily, shoving more bacon into his mouth. I inwardly groaned as crumbs fell off his lips and onto the kitchen table of the Burrow.

"Two weeks of sea sickness, diaper-infested waters, terrible Hawaiian music, and annoying, desperate cabana boys." My icy statement turned heads. Ron's eyes bore into mine with such a fierceness that I thought they'd melt and he could butter his toast with them. Except that he'd just stuffed the rest of it into his huge mouth.

"Bloody hell. Don't be such a _girl_, Hermione!" Ron groaned, more of what was in his mouth becoming clearly visible.

"'_Don't be such a girl_?' Well, that would be easy, Ronald, if it weren't for the fact that _I am a girl_!" I screeched angrily, throwing a stick of butter at him. He caught it awkwardly, stared at me, stared at the butter…and began buttering his bread with it.

Harry saw that I was about to explode, so he decided to intervene.

"Hermione, I knew you'd want a little time to yourself…away from…certain distractions," Harry said, somewhat disgustedly, as he glanced at the pig that was Ron, "so I looked into it, and I found out that this particular cruise ship has a very nice library. And there's no terrible Hawaiian music there at all. Just peace and quiet," he said calmly, trying to entice me.

I narrowed my eyes at him, unconvinced. He blinked and then smiled slyly.

"Hermione…they have…Jane Austen…" he said softly, his smile widening as he spoke. My ears perked up at the delightful news, and it was obvious that I was just a little less apprehensive about the trip. Across the table from me, Ron noticed this change.

He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"A book? She's going on a luxury cooze so she can read a _book_?" Ron asked amazedly.

"Jane Austen is an author, not a book, Ronald!" I corrected, turning up my nose at his disgusting eating habits. "And you might try keeping your mouth closed more often; your lap has eaten more bacon than you have!"

Harry tried to control his laughter beside me while Ron blushed. I smiled, satisfied, and then stood to take my plate to the kitchen.

Suddenly, I didn't hear Harry trying to cover up his laughter any longer, and so I assumed that Ron had made some kind of insulting gesture behind my back. Looking around, I found a rather menacing-looking wooden spoon. Grabbing it, I turned to face Ron. But his expression hadn't changed, so I looked curiously at Harry instead.

"There is…uh…one small problem," Harry said nervously, looking down at his plate. Ron stopped eating for a moment—the shock nearly killed me—to stare at Harry. The raven-haired boy swallowed hard.

"Harry?" I said through clenched teeth. "What is it that you're not telling us?"

"We…we…" he mumbled, his words becoming less and less understandable. Anger boiling inside me that something had been kept from me this long, I smacked the rounded cup of the wooden spoon—hard—on the table. The loud _crack_ that resulted from it resonated throughout the room. Harry almost jumped out of his seat.

"We have to share a room!" he blurted out quickly, before he could stop himself. My mouth dropped open in horror; sharing a room with Harry was one thing, but…

I glanced over to the red-haired pig and nearly threw up. He was also looking at me, his ears red and a horrified look on his pale face.

"Please…don't hate me! I just…thought that if we were too far apart, that just in case something did happen…I couldn't get to either of you in time…" Harry trailed off. I didn't really hear him. I was biting my tongue too hard. Ron hadn't taken his eyes off me, and vice versa. Somehow, the horror faded from his eyes…and I saw something else.

He looked…_okay_ with it.

Content.

Satisfied.

_Pleased._

He gave me an innocent, boyish grin that made me feel a little queasy—but it was a good kind of queasy. Not sea-sick queasy or roller-coaster queasy. The lovely kind of queasy that you feel when a boy with warm eyes and an ulterior motive smiles at you.

"Sounds good to me," I said quickly.

"Yep. Good. I like it," Ron agreed, still not tearing his eyes away from mine.

Harry made a funny noise, sort of like a choked gasp. A gasp of utter surprise and shock. It perfectly described the way I was feeling after _agreeing_ to share a room with Ron. I hadn't even put up a fight!

"Well, that's…good, then. That's…good. So, I'll…see you in the morning, then," Harry said shakily, standing up from the table. He put his plate in the kitchen sink, and then he walked around the table and began to ascend the stairs.

"G'night, Harry!" Ron and I said simultaneously. Harry froze on the stairs, shook his head, and continued up.

It was silent for a long moment. Ron swallowed the remnants of his meal and, to my surprise, set down his fork. He stood up and brushed crumbs off his shirt without ever breaking eye contact with me. Then, coming to stand so close to me that I could smell his cologne, he smiled that smile again. Only this time, it was wider, and he was obviously very nervous.

"So…" he said quietly.

"So…" I mumbled, stuffing my hands deep into the pockets of my jeans.

"Uh…"

"Yeah."

"Do you uh…wanna help me pack?" Ron asked quickly, blinking and running a hand through his hair.

"Sure."

"Great," Ron said happily. Following him like a love-struck zombie, I rushed up the stairs after him to his room…to '_pack_.'

**To Be Continued…**

That's my first ever chapter! Review and tell me what you thought, please.


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